13. THE COMPANY’S EXIT FROM BRAZIL

On March 9, 2015, Lakeland Brazil, S.A. changed its legal form to a Limitada and changed its name to Lake Brasil Industria E Comercio de Roupas E Equipamentos de Protecao Individual LTDA (“Lakeland Brazil”).

Transfer of Shares Agreement

On July 31, 2015 (the “Closing Date”), Lakeland and Lakeland Brazil, completed a conditional closing of a Shares Transfer Agreement (the “Shares Transfer Agreement”) with Zap Comércio de Brindes Corporativos Ltda (“Transferee”), a company owned by an existing Lakeland Brazil manager, entered into on June 19, 2015. Pursuant to the Shares Transfer Agreement, the Transferee has acquired all of the shares of Lakeland Brazil owned by the Company. Pursuant to the Shares Transfer Agreement, Transferee paid R$1.00 to the Company and assumed all liabilities and obligations of Lakeland Brazil, whether arising prior to, on or after the Closing Date. In order to help enable Lakeland Brazil to have sufficient funds to continue to operate for a period of at least two years following the Closing Date, the Company provided funding to Lakeland Brazil in the aggregate amount of USD $1,130,000, in cash, in the form of a capital raise, on or prior to the Closing Date, and agreed to provide an additional R$582,000 (approximately USD $188,000) (the “Additional Amount”), in the form of a capital raise, to be utilized by Lakeland Brazil to pay off certain specified liabilities and other potential contingent liabilities. Pursuant to the Shares Transfer Agreement, the Company paid R$992,000 (approximately USD $320,000) in cash, on July 1, 2015 and issued a non-interest bearing promissory note for the payment to be due for the Additional Amount (R$582,000) (approximately USD $188,000) on the Closing Date which was paid to Lakeland Brazil in two (2) installments of (i) R$288,300 (approximately USD $82,000) which was paid on August 1, 2015, and (ii) R$294,500 (approximately USD $84,000) on September 1, 2015. The closing of this agreement was subject to Brazilian government approval of the shares transfer, which was received in October 2015 (The “Final Closing Date”).

The Company understands that under the laws of Brazil, a concept of fraudulent bankruptcy exists, which may hold a parent company liable for the liabilities of its Brazilian subsidiary in the event some level of fraud or misconduct is shown during the period that the parent company owned the subsidiary. While the Company believes that there has been no such fraud or misconduct relating to the proposed transfer of stock of Lakeland Brazil and the transactions contemplated by the Shares Transfer Agreement, as evidenced by the Company’s funding support for continuing operations of Lakeland Brazil, there can be no assurance that the courts of Brazil will not make such a finding nonetheless.

The risk of exposure to the Company continues to diminish as the Transferee continues to operate Lakeland Brazil, as the risk of a finding of fraudulent bankruptcy lessens and pre-sale liabilities are paid off. Should the Transferee operate Lakeland Brazil for a period of two years, the Company believes the risk of a finding of fraudulent bankruptcy is eliminated. The Company believes that the loan transaction with its former Brazilian subsidiary resulting in a substantial reduction of the VAT tax liability, as described below in this Note, significantly reduced such potential liability. In addition, as discussed below in this Note, the potential labor claims liability has substantially diminished. The Shares Transfer Agreement, which is governed by United States law, contains customary representations, warranties and covenants of the parties for a transaction of this type. The Company and Transferee have agreed to indemnify each other from and against certain liabilities, subject to certain exceptions. Under the Shares Transfer Agreement, the Company will be subject to certain non-solicitation provisions for a period of two years following the Closing Date.

The following tables summarize the results of the Brazil business included in the statements of operations for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2016. The Company did not recognize any income (loss) from discontinued operations during the fiscal year ended January 31, 2017.

	2016 (in 000’s)
Net sales from discontinuing operations	$	869
Gross profit from discontinuing operations		164
Operating expenses from discontinuing operations		763
Operating loss from discontinuing operations		(599)
Interest expense from discontinuing operations		256
Other expense from discontinuing operations		2,683
Loss from operation of discontinuing operations (includes a $0.1 million tax benefit from Q1)		(3,538)
Non-cash reclassification of Other Comprehensive Income to Statement of Operations (no impact on stockholders’ equity)		(1,286)
Loss from disposal of discontinued operations		(515)
Loss before taxes for discontinued operations		(5,339)
Income tax benefit from discontinued operations		(1,403)
Net loss from discontinued operations	$	(3,936)

Settlement Agreement – Arbitration Debt

On June 18, 2015, Lakeland and its then wholly owned subsidiary Lakeland Brazil (together with Lakeland, the “Brazil Co”), entered into an Amendment (the “Amendment”) to a Settlement Agreement, dated as of September 11, 2012 (the “Settlement Agreement”), with two former officers (the “former officers”) of Lakeland Brazil. As part of the original Settlement Agreement, the parties resolved all alleged outstanding claims against Lakeland Brazil arising from an arbitration proceeding in Brazil involving Lakeland Brazil and the former officers of Lakeland Brazil for an aggregate amount of approximately USD $8.5 million payable by Lakeland Brazil to the former officers over a period of six (6) years. As of the June 18, 2015 settlement date, there was a balance of USD $3.75 million (the “Outstanding Amount”) owed under the Settlement Agreement, which Outstanding Amount was to be paid by the Company in quarterly installments of USD $250,000 through December 31, 2018.

Pursuant to the Amendment, the former officers agreed to fully and finally settle the Outstanding Amount owed by the Company for an aggregate lump sum payment of USD $3.41 million, resulting in a gain of USD $224,000 after allowing for imputed interest on the original Settlement Agreement. Within five days of receipt of such payment, the former officers provided to Lakeland Brazil the documents needed to have their lien securing payment of the Outstanding Amount removed on certain real estate owned by Lakeland Brazil and such lien was removed. The Amendment also contains a general release of claims by the former officers in favor of the Company and its past or present officers, directors, and other affiliates. The Company’s senior lender, AloStar Bank of Commerce, has consented to the transactions in the Amendment.

Loan Agreement with Transferee of Brazil Operations

The Company had entered into a loan agreement (the “Loan Agreement”) on December 11, 2015 with Qualytextil for the amount of R$8,584,012 (approximately USD $2.29 million) for the purpose of providing funds necessary for Qualytextil to settle its largest outstanding VAT claim with the State of Bahia. The Company determined that a reserve against the collection of this loan in full was prudent and recorded this charge in the fiscal year ended January 31, 2016.

VAT Tax Issues in Brazil

Value Added Tax (“VAT”) in Brazil is charged at the state level. We commenced operations in Brazil in May 2008 through an acquisition of Qualytextil, S.A., which subsequently became Lake Brasil Indústria e Comércio de Roupas e Equipamentos de Proteção Individual Ltda. (referred to in this Form 10-K as “Lakeland Brazil”). An audit performed on the VAT for the 2007-2009 period was completed by the State of Bahia (state of domicile for the Lakeland operations in Brazil). In October 2010, the Company received four claims for 2007-2009 from the State of Bahia, the largest of which was for taxes of R$6.2 million (USD $2.3 million) and interest, penalties and fees of R$8.3 million (USD $3.1 million), for a total of R$14.6 million (USD $5.4 million). This large VAT claim was settled in the fiscal year ended January 31, 2016 using funds from the loan described above. Of other claims, our attorney informed us that three claims totaling R$1.3 million (USD $0.5 million) excluding interest, penalties and fees of R$2.7 million (USD $0.9 million) were likely to be successfully defended based on state auditor misunderstanding.

Labor Claims in Brazil

The Company may continue to be exposed to certain liabilities arising in connection with lawsuits pending in the labor courts in Brazil in which plaintiffs were seeking, as at July 31, 2015, a total of nearly USD $8,000,000 in damages from the Company’s then Brazilian subsidiary (Lakeland Brazil). The Company believes many of these labor court claims are without merit and the amount of damages being sought is significantly higher than any damages which may have been incurred. Pursuant to the Shares Transfer Agreement, the Company is required to fully fund amounts owed by Lakeland Brazil in connection with the then existing labor claims and to pay amounts potentially owed for future labor claims up to an aggregate amount of $375,000 plus 60% of the excess of such amount until the earlier of (i) the date all labor claims against Lakeland Brazil deriving from events prior to the sale are settled, (ii) by our mutual agreement with Lakeland Brazil or (iii) on the two (2) year anniversary of closing of the sale. With respect to continuing claims, $167,000 is being sought, of which management estimates the aggregate liability will be less than that amount.